Truth
by jaceanthony
Summary: Peter's caught in a lie, a big one. It's now time to tell the truth.
1. Chapter 1

Peter had been spending a lot of time thinking about the Vulture lately. Yes, he was in prison, and there's no way that he could get to Peter anymore. But Peter was still scared. How could a man, a _father_ , be that cruel, menacing. Peter couldn't stop seeing the gun in his face when Mr. Toomes confronted him. He couldn't stop feeling his grip on his shoulders, dumping him into the freezing lake. He couldn't stop picturing his malicious smile staring back at him. And he couldn't stop feeling the tears stream down his face when the building crushed him. Peter had wanted to give up at that very moment, and if you were to ask him, he wouldn't really know how or why he got out of that alive.

A quiet knock on his door snapped Peter out of his thoughts.

"Peter? Honey?"May's soft voice came through the door. Peter stood up and opened his bedroom door for her.

"Hey May,"he smiled, trying not to show how sad and scared he was feeling inside. He knew the Vulture wasn't a problem anymore, but he was still scared.

"I have to go to work now, my shift is overnight, I won't be home until after you go to school, so I wanted to say goodnight, and have a great day tomorrow,"

"I thought you weren't going to do overnight shifts anymore,"Peter said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"I know, I'm sorry, but, we need the money and-"

"No, I get it, I just- you're right,"Peter said, looking up at her, smiling softly. "Have a good night,"

"I'll try,"she smiled back, "I made you dinner, it's on the stove, put it away when you're done with it, get your homework done, and don't go to bed too late, okay?"  
"Yeah,"Peter said.

May smiled sadly, placing a hand on Peter's shoulder. She tried to pretend she didn't see him flinch. The flinching and hiding started a few months ago. Every time she tried to talk to him about it, he clammed up, never revealing what was wrong. Peter was always closer to Ben, and she was okay with that, she'd just wished that he would come to her with his problems.

"Alright, bye. I love you,"

"Bye,"Peter responded. May wasn't sure if it was a teenage boy thing or what, but she tried not to let it bother her when Peter didn't respond back with "I love you, too,"

May left his room. Peter could hear the chime of her keys and the lock of the apartment door before everything became quiet. Leaving Peter to his thoughts again.

A few hours had gone by, Peter had done his homework and watched a movie. Now he was getting tired. He made his way into the bathroom, brushing his teeth and getting dressed in his pajamas before heading to his bedroom.

He played on his phone for a little bit, every once in a while looking up at the time at the top of his screen. He still wasn't ready to sleep, and it was now 3AM.

Peter finally shut off his phone, and turned onto his back, staring at the top bunk of his bed.

He wasn't sure why he couldn't fall asleep. He sat up in his bed, fixing the blankets around, and laid back down. A few minutes later, he got up, got a glass of water, and went back into bed.

Why couldn't he fall asleep? Another couple minutes passed before a shiver went up his spine.

All the hairs on his arm stood on end, alerting him of danger. He heard the sirens long before anyone else would be able to. Peter hopped out of bed, and reached into the attic hatch for his spider suit. He quickly undressed from his pajamas and switched them for his suit. He slipped on the mask and asked Karen to tell him where the action was. He slipped out his window and climbed up to the rooftop. Listening to her directions, Peter began swinging towards the commotion.

He could see it now, a 7 story apartment building was up in flames. He landed on the roof of the next building over. Listening closely, he could hear faint screaming from people inside the burning building.

"Karen, scan the building, find me the best way in."

"Scanning now."Karen replied. "The safest way into the building is through the back left window of the 6th floor. There are 3 people on the 7th floor, 2 on the 6th, and 2 on the 4th floor. There is also a cat on the 3rd floor."

"On it,"Peter said swinging to the window Karen directed him to. He first made his way up to the 7th floor to find the 3 people there. He found a small boy, sitting in his closet, covered in ash.  
"Hey, it's alright, I'm here to get you out of here,"Peter said softly, "But we have to hurry, there's lots of other people here too that need to get out,"

The little boy nodded and reached out to Peter to be carried.

"Uh, okay-okay, come on then,"Peter said, putting the boy on his back, "hold on tight, okay?"

Scrambling through the rest of the 7th floor, he found two more people trapped behind a door in flames. Peter made a hole in the wall where the flames weren't, and directed them to follow him out to the remaining intact stairwell. After making sure the three were safe on the ground outside, getting medical attention, Peter ran back into the building. The smoke was getting thicker, regardless of the firemen now on the scene, now fighting the fire.

After clearing the 6th and 4th floors, Peter once again ran back in to find the cat on the 3rd floor.

"Here, kitty,"Peter shouted, "Come here!"

Peter coughed roughly, the smoke was filling his lungs quicker now that he was yelling, and tired from helping everyone out.

Looking around, he spotted the small, what once was white, kitten in the corner, sitting in a potted plant. He quickly grabbed the small creature in his arms, and ran to the stairwell. The stairwell was now collapsing and unstable. He had to find another way out. He subconsciously started petting the kitten as to soothe it.

"Karen, find me a way out of here,"Peter spoke, before breaking out into a coughing fit.

"The only way out of the building is through the window, down the hall and to the left."

"Got it,"Peter said as he took off running, kitten tucked away in his arms.

Once Peter got to the window, he looked out, there were bystanders everywhere. He lent out the window, putting his feet on the side of the building. He looked at the building across the street, and then at the kitten sitting in his arms. He shot a web out to the building and landed on the roof. He slowly made his way down to the street. A little girl ran up to him, "Mittens!"she shouted, grabbing for the ash-covered kitten in Peter's arm.

"Thank you! You saved him!"she smiled brightly at him, ash smeared across her face.

"You're welcome,"Peter spoke out, as the little girl ran over to her parents, holding up the kitten like Rafiki did to Simba in the Lion King.

He shot up a web to the nearest building, that wasn't on fire, and started his journey back home.

Too tired to change out of his suit, Peter plopped onto his bed, finally falling asleep.

The next morning, Peter awoke to his aunt yelling his name.

"Peter?!"May screamed, "What the f-what are you wearing?!"

Pure horror was spread across Peter's face. May was home early. Peter had fallen asleep in his spider suit. Now May was seeing him in his spider suit.  
"M-May, I, I can explain!"Peter yelled, defensively, pressing on his chest, allowing the suit to fall off his body. He slipped on sweatpants, all the while trying to explain to his aunt who was having a panic attack in his doorway. "May, this- this isn't what it looks like!"

"Oh? So you're you weren't asleep in your room, wearing that-that spider costume?!"  
"Well..I-"  
"No! I don't want to hear it!"

"But, May-"

"Enough, Peter!"May shouted. "I told you, when you saw that dangerous stuff, to run away! And-and this whole time, you-you've been sneaking out!? Fighting these horrible dangerous people! This is not okay!"

Peter stopped talking. This was his worst nightmare come true. May was never supposed to find out about this.

"How long have you been... _this_?"May asked, gesturing to his suit.

"A month before Ben…."Peter whispered out.

"Oh my god,"May said, placing her hands on her temples. "Oh my god, Peter! You lied to me, for over a year?! You've been this, this _thing_ , for over a year!?"

"I wanted to tell you, when it happened, I swear, but, then Ben, and I- you-you worry and when you worry, I worry and then nothing ever-"Peter ranted, but was cut off by May holding her hand out.

"No, no, Peter. No! You don't get to make excuses now, you, you _lied_ to me! We don't lie to each other, we don't do that!"

"I'm sorry,"Peter said softly, heartbroken.

"I-I can't do this, I can't deal with this right now, I need sleep, I need a drink…"May said, mumbling to herself as she ran off to the living room, leaving Peter alone.

"Fuck...fuck,"Peter spoke, "FUCK!"he shouted as he punched the wall, drywall turning to dust.

"Ow…"he whispered, gripping his bruised fist in his other one.

Peter sat on his bed, tears now flowing from his eyes, both from pain and from seeing such pain in his aunt's eyes.

"Shit."

Four days had passed and May refused to talk to Peter. She took up drinking to deal with her stresses. Peter hadn't gone out as Spider-Man, figuring it wouldn't be the best idea in this situation.

What he didn't think about was how Tony was going to notice that he wasn't going out to patrol. One, maybe two days without Spider-Man roaming the city was normal, but three nights? That wasn't like Peter.

Peter's phone rang just as he got out of school. It was Tony.

"Hey Mr. Stark!"Peter said cheerfully.

"Kid."Tony greeted, as per usual.

"What's up?"Peter prompted with Tony didn't say anything else.

"I sent Happy to pick you up, he's gonna bring you to the compound."

"Uh, okay? Where is he-"Peter's thought was broken off as Happy pulled up right next to Peter.

"Found h-"Peter was cut off by Tony as the older man hung up on him. Peter frowned, but pocketed his phone and got in the front seat of Happy's car. Peter stopped sitting in the back seat a long time ago, as he thought it was weird to have such a gap between them.

"Hey, kid, how was school today?"Happy asked him.  
"It was great! I aced my chemistry test, actually I got a 110, cause I got the extra credit correct."

Happy nodded, he never really did say much anyways.

"Why does Tony want me to come to the compound, I'm supposed to be there in two days anyways. Oh! Do you think he already finished my new web shooters, or maybe he-"

"I'm not sure, guess we'll find out when we get there,"Happy said.

"Yeah...I guess so,"Peter said, kinda bummed that he was just shut off by Happy. Normally he would let him finish rambling before he spoke. Weird.

The ride felt long in the silence but eventually they reached the compound. Peter grabbed his backpack and followed Happy into the main compound building.

FRIDAY's voice rang through the front hall as the two entered. "The boss is waiting for you in the lab, Peter."

"Okay,"Peter said, making his way to the elevator. As FRIDAY brought him down to the lab, Peter spent his time wondering why Tony wanted him to come in early, before he could even run over any scenarios as to why, the elevator doors opened up to the lab. He walked through, until he found Tony working on some of Clint's new arrows.

"Hey Mr. Stark!"Peter said happily as he through his backpack down on the next table over from where Tony was working.

"Hey, kid, how was school?"

"It was good! I got a 110 on my chemistry test, and Ned told me about this new Lego set he got so after this I'm gonna go there so we can build it."

"I don't think thats gonna happen tonight,"Tony started.

"Oh? Do you need me to work on stuff here? I can call Ned, we can work on it tomorrow,"Peter said, a little disappointed at first, but then becoming happy again when he realized he would be able to stay late at the compound with Tony.

"How has patrolling been?"Tony asked as he fiddled more with one of the arrows.

"Oh, it's going well! I, uh, it's been kinda quiet the last couple of nights, but it's-"  
"Really? So if I checked the logs on the suit, it would say you've been out the last couple of nights?"

"I- wait what? Of-of course it-I-what-"

"I mean I know you can't go out every night, but you kill for time to be able to go out as Spider-man, so, why haven't you been out for _three_ nights. Is something wrong?"Tony confronted him.

"I've just been, busy, I guess,"Peter said, nervously, "I guess I just forgot…"

"That's not like you, Peter, so tell me,"Tony said standing up in front of Peter, "What's going on?"


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, so I guess people liked this, so I'm gonna continue it! I am at college right now so my uploads will be far and few between, but I will do my best :D Sorry this one is shorter than the other one, but the cut off for the next chapter is really good, I couldn't resist. But feel free to PM me with ideas that you want me to incorporate into other chapters.

"Peter?"Tony prompted when Peter hadn't said anything for four minutes.

"Uh, I've just been, I-I, my suit broke?"

By the look on his face, Tony was not expecting the kid to lie to him. He couldn't lie to Tony, he always knew when Peter lied to him, because Peter was a really bad liar. But Peter really wasn't sure what to say.

"Your suit...broke?"Tony asked for clarification, crossing his arms over his chest.

Peter stood there awkwardly, biting his lower lip. "...Yes?"Peter paused, Tony glared. "Okay, no, no it didn't break."Peter confirmed.

"That was a stupid answer, you would've known if it broke, or I would've told you. That was dumb."Peter mumbled to himself.

"So what _did_ happen?"

"Well...basically I came home from patrol and I was exhausted and fell into my bed with the suit still on, and I wasn't worried about anyone seeing me because the only one in the apartment besides me is May, but she was supposed to be at work until after I got to school, and then she walked in and saw me in the suit, and then she freaked out and when she freaks out, I freak out and-"

"Okay, kid, I think I got it,"Tony stopped the rambling teen. "What did she say?"

"You mean after she freaked out?" With a nod from Tony, Peter continued. "Nothing. She hasn't talked to me about it, or really about anything, I mean, she asked if I wanted pepperoni on my pizza yesterday, but that's it."

Tony unfolded his arms, and sat down on the chair behind him. "Have you tried talking with her?"

"She just rejects anything I try to say about it."Peter said, "I don't like this. Her being mad at me. And I just decided that maybe I shouldn't be going out as Spider-Man for a couple of days, to let May calm down,"Peter spoke softly, "She doesn't need to worry more than she already is right now,"

Tony looked at Peter, who sat down on the couch, with a sad look on his face. "I just don't know what to do anymore,"Peter spoke, voice breaking.

Tony seemed to ignore him, grabbing his phone, dialing a number. He pulled the phone up to his ear, "Hey Happy! Wanna go on a field trip to Queens?"

Peter shot up, "No! You're not going to talk to her, she'll flip even more!"Peter ran up to Tony, trying to shout to Happy through the phone, and trying to grab the cellphone from Tony.

"Yes, Happy, I know it's late- _stop Pete_ -yes, Happy yes- _Peter_ -okay thanks Hap, be down in five!"Tony hung up. "Really, kid?"

"We can't- _you_ can't talk to her, she'll know how I got the suit, she'll think you started this-"

"Well, I'll make sure that she knows this whole thing was your idea,"Tony smirked at the kid.

"Idea?! This wasn't my idea! I didn't want to get bitten by that spider! I didn't ask for this!"

"Baby genius, calm down, I was joking,"Tony spoke, grabbing the teens shoulders to stop him from moving around frantically. "You good?"

"No!"Peter shouted. "She's gonna kill me,"

"Hey, you're an asset of mine, she can't kill you,"Tony spoke surely, "Plus, she can't kill a baby Avenger, now can she?"

Peter looked up at Tony, "You know, someday I'm gonna be taller than you, and you're gonna regret all these baby nicknames,"

"That a threat, Underoos?"Tony smirked, taking a step closer to Peter.

"Happy!"Peter shouted, as he took off down the hallway. "It's time to go!"

In the car, Tony sat next to Peter, keeping a close eye on him. He had Karen tell FRIDAY the boy's vitals, as his breathing was increasing and he was no longer responding to anything Tony was saying. His heartbeat crazy, blood pressure was off the charts, and he wouldn't stop hyperventilating. The same things happened to him before a panic attack.

'I would suggest calming him down before you get any closer to Queens, Boss,'FRIDAY spoke.

"Kid,"Tony prompted, Peter looked out the window instead. "Look at me,"

Peter looked over to Tony, he had tears brimming his eyes.

"Why are you so worried about this?"Tony's intention wasn't to sound rude, but he needed an answer to understand why he was so afraid of confronting his aunt.

Peter refused to answer, but glanced up at the open window between them and Happy, and then back down to his feet on the floor. Tony hit a button, effectively closing the window, preventing Happy from hearing anything.

Before Tony could prompt the boy again, a soft voice responded, "I'm scared,"

"Of what?"Tony asked softly, trying to make eye contact with the kid.

"That she won't look at me the same anymore, that she'll hate me forever. That she'll give me away,"

"You're her kid now, she can't just give you away,"

Peter shrugged, "She only agreed to take me when she had Ben to help her, they were both really young, May still is, she doesn't need me in her life. I put her life on hold so she could take care of me, she has three jobs because of me, the last thing she needs is me causing problems. I know it's stupid, but I just, I can't stop thinking about the worst possible outcome,"

Tony stayed silent, he really didn't know what to say, he wasn't very good at this thing.

"Sorry,"Peter whispered.

"You don't have to be sorry about how you're feeling,"Tony spoke, "just, you don't have to be worried cause I'm gonna be there with you, we'll figure it all out,"

Peter nodded, feeling a little reassured.

The rest of the ride went by quickly, Peter started talking about science and then he couldn't stop.

They pulled up to his apartment building thirty minutes later, Peter looked up at his apartment window from the sidewalk. The light was on to the living room. They made it up to the seventh floor, walking to the end of the hallway to his apartment.

"I can't do this, please let's just go back to the compound,"Peter pleaded.

"Peter you can't throw this off for forever,"

"I could…"Peter remarked. He let out a deep breath that he didn't know he was holding, "Fine, let's go talk to her,"

"You wanna knock, or me?"

"You, so I can't back out,"

Tony knocked on the door, and took a small step back.

A shadow moved across the crack beneath the door, and they could hear the clattering of the metal lock against the wooden door.


	3. UPDATE

Hey guys! Sorry this has been dead for a while, if you're following Truth, please PM me if youre interested in more. Or you can message me on Tumblr, either oncealonelypirate(my main) or iron-spidey-boy

Working on chapter 3 rn, hope it can upload soon, Im also working on another story revolving around Peter going on depression meds and how that affects him. Hope that goes up soon, school is crazy rn!

see you all soon :)


	4. Leaving

"Where were you this time? Out spider-ing again?"May snapped when Peter walked through the door.

"Actually, I was-"Peter was interrupted by Tony barging into the door, pushing Peter further into the apartment.

May scoffed, glaring at the man.

"Hey May,"Tony spoke, "Sorry, I called the kid upstate, needed his smart brain for a new idea for Hawkeye's arrows,"

May froze for a second, while she connected the dots. "Wait, so….you're involved in this spider thing too, aren't you? You made him that suit!"

"Actually, I just upgraded it."Catching the look on her face, he quickly added, "To make it safer!"

May rolled her eyes as she walked into the living room, mumbling something about "safer my ass." Peter and Tony followed her, Peter, a little more cautious than Tony.

Tony nudged him to move forward into the living room, Peter turned around, glaring at Tony.

"So, I need an explanation,"May spoke as they all sat down. Tony glanced around the living room, two empty beer bottles littered the coffee table.

"I know, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but I was just afraid you'd be mad at me, and then when I really wanted to tell you it had been going on for a while and it just, didn't seem like a good idea anymore, and you've been so busy and stressed out with work that I didn't want to worry you out even more,"Peter spoke softly.

"Peter! I'm not mad about Spider-Man, I'm mad that you didn't tell me! You never talk to me anymore, you can't do that! I know I'm not home as often, but we are in this together and we can't keep doing this if you lie to me,"May sighed. "Sometimes I feel like we just aren't close anymore, and I know you were always closer to Ben, you could tell him anything, but, why can't you tell me these things, or anything?"

"I didn't want you to worry…"

"Peter I always worry about you!"May shouted, "I worry about you walking to school. I worry that you won't get blown up there. I worry about you leaving the house. I worry about every time we are apart and I can't constantly make sure you're okay!"

"May-"

"I worry that I can't take care of you well enough..."May said sadly. "I don't know how to take care of a teenage boy! This is why you have to talk to me, and not keep secrets from me!"

"I know, I'm sorry, I should've told you,"

"I can't do this anymore Peter, I can't take care of a kid. Ben was the one who wanted kids, I didn't. I can't take care of myself let alone a child!"

Peter started tearing up at the realization that May didn't and never even wanted him.

"I can't afford a child. I can't afford this apartment, I have three jobs, Peter! Three!"

"Peter can be paid for his internship with me,"Tony finally spoke up.

"It's not just that,"May sobbed, finally breaking. "How the fuck am I supposed to take care of someone who won't talk to me. Huh? Peter, tell me how!"

"I don't know,"Peter sobbed, tears flowing freely down his cheeks.

"I can't take care of you, Peter! I….I do love you, but I just can't deal with this,"May said, she grabbed another beer from the kitchen, and walked off to the bedroom crying.

"May?"Peter sobbed. "May?! May come back!"Peter started following her. Tony grabbed his upper arm gently, stopping the boy from following her. "No, let go of me! May!"Peter said pulling his arm, elbowing the older man, kicking him to let him go.

Tony wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling him into a tight hug. He stroked his fingers through the boys hair, whispering into his ear telling him that it would be okay.

Tony pulled out his phone and dialled Happy's number. "We'll be right down,"


End file.
